The present invention relates to telecommunication techniques. More particularly, the present invention provides enhanced diagnostic capabilities for a Pulse Amplitude Modulated (PAM) optical device, although other applications are possible.
Over the last few decades, the use of communication networks exploded. In the early days Internet, popular applications were limited to emails, bulletin board, and mostly informational and text-based web page surfing, and the amount of data transferred was usually relatively small. Today, Internet and mobile applications demand a huge amount of bandwidth for transferring photo, video, music, and other multimedia files. For example, a social network like Facebook processes more than 500TB of data daily. With such high demands on data and data transfer, existing data communication systems need to be improved to address these needs.
Progress in computer technology (and the continuation of Moore's Law) is becoming increasingly dependent on faster data transfer between and within microchips. Optical interconnects may provide a way forward, and silicon photonics may prove particularly useful, once integrated on the standard silicon chips. 40-Gbit/s and then 100-Gbit/s data rates DWDM optical transmission over existing single-mode fiber is a target for the next generation of fiber-optic communication networks. Everything is okay up to 10 Gbits/s, but beyond that, distortion and dispersion take their toll.
In order to meet the challenges of faster data communications with accuracy maintained, the use of multiple channels has been explored. This, however, leads to a more complex optical communications device, with a corresponding greater variety and volume of available diagnostic information. Therefore, improved devices with enhanced features are desired.